Is your technology a force for good or evil?

Renowned technologist Vivek Wadhwa joins UNLEASH CEO Marc Coleman to discuss the possibilities of using technology for good.

Wadhwa, a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School and Silicon Valley native urges HR leaders to understand and utilize the positive impact of tech for employee and business success. But he warns them not to lean into to “dark side” like some big tech CEOs — namely Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg who he claims has failed on his responsibilities.

“The role of HR has increased exponentially because employment has been disrupted. Employees are in a state of panic right now because they don’t know what the future of work looks like,” Wadhwa says.

“You have to understand the change in employee needs and the trauma they may have been through and guide them from that perspective. Then HR leaders need to understand that they will be disrupted also unless you understand the changing technology trends and the new tools and techniques available.”

Wadhwa says it comes down to how companies and big tech uses human data. This, he says, is where it can either be a force for good, or bad. “What AI enables, which is data analysis and the trends within your company and outside the company, to the new software that’s available. You have to adapt to the new methods and new processes and upgrade your services…otherwise, you too are going to be unemployed.”

But UNLEASH CEO Marc Coleman believes tech is supercharging our lives in the pandemic.

“Technology was the unsung hero and HR was the superhero,”

Marc Coleman

Wadhwa doesn’t disagree, though he’s sceptical of his Silicon Valley neighbors.

“HR had to learn new technology in a hurry when the pandemic hit,” Wadhwa says. “It’s now time to understand all the other advances in technology and adapting to the change.”

“Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are neighbors of mine, I used to consider them to be good people. Now I call Zuckerberg Darth Vadar because he’s gone to the dark side.”

Find out why and watch the full interview here:

Vivek Wadhwa is a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program and the co-author of From Incremental to Exponential: How Large Companies Can See the Future and Rethink Innovation. Twitter: @wadhwa